POLITICS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Friday, November 13, 2020 7A
Vatican calling: Pope congratulates Biden on election
CAROLYN RASTER I Associated Press
Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of Congress
on Capitol Hill Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 in Washington.
President-elect Joe Biden, a lifelong Roman Catholic, spoke
to Pope Francis on Thursday, Nov. 12.
BY WILL WEISSERT
AND DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
It’s not exactly divine
intervention, but even the
pope considers the U.S. pres
idential race over.
President-elect Joe Biden,
a lifelong Roman Catholic,
spoke to Pope Francis on
Thursday, despite President
Donald Trump refusing to
concede. Trump claims —
without evidence — that the
election was stolen from him
through massive but unspec
ified acts of fraud.
Biden’s transition team
said in a statement that the
president-elect thanked
Francis for “extending
blessings and congratula
tions and noted his appre
ciation.” He also saluted
the pontiffs “leadership in
promoting peace, recon
ciliation, and the common
bonds of humanity around
the world.”
Biden said he hopes to
work with Francis on issues
such as climate change, pov
erty and immigration.
News of the call came
even as some Catholic bish
ops in the U.S. decline to
acknowledge Biden’s victory
and argue the faithful should
not back him because of his
support for abortion rights.
On Tuesday, for example,
Bishop Joseph Strickland
of Tyler, Texas, tweeted
that Biden and Vice Presi
dent-elect Kamala Harris
support “the slaughter of
innocents” at any point dur
ing pregnancy.
Biden has said he accepts
church doctrine about abor
tion on a personal level, but
does not want to impose that
belief on everyone.
Biden has had several
phone calls this week with
foreign leaders, including
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson, French President
Emmanuel Macron and
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel. They have congrat
ulated him on winning and
consider the election settled.
Having the pope on board,
too, likely has special signifi
cance for Biden.
He is just the second
Catholic to be elected presi
dent in U.S. history, and the
first since John F. Kennedy.
Biden speaks frequently and
openly about the importance
of faith in his life and attends
Mass near his home in Wilm
ington, Delaware, nearly
every week.
No matter their faith,
American politicians are
often eager to meet with
the pope when traveling
near Rome, though Fran
cis declined to meet with
Trump’s secretary of state,
Mike Pompeo, in Septem
ber, citing rules against such
sit-downs during election
periods. Francis last visited
the U.S. in 2015.
Known for advocating for
openness on issues like gay
rights, the environment and
religious tolerance, Francis
has been embraced by some
liberals as furthering their
causes.
In its statement, the
Biden transition team said
the president-elect told
the pontiff he would like to
work together to further “a
shared belief in the dignity
and equality of all human
kind on issues such as car
ing for the marginalized
and the poor, addressing the
crisis of climate change, and
welcoming and integrating
immigrants.”
In the election, 50% of
Catholic voters backed
Trump and 49% favored
Biden, according to Vote-
Cast, a survey of more than
110,000 voters nationwide
conducted for The Associ
ated Press by NORC at the
University of Chicago.
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